I've heard of flipping the rear spring shackle to gain some lift, are there any bad side affects to this? Do you just cut the shackle loose and bolt it on upside down? How much lift do you get? I'm going for a 4" lift and Bushwacker flares to clear 35-36"s. Are there driveline problems with this? Bad vibrations? Need advice from those that have done it before. Thanks.

 

It also moves your axle back about an inch or so and your tires are no longer centered in the wheel wells.

Most people that do this add a zero rate block with offset spring pin holes to move it forward.

It also changes your pinion angle, and you may have to add a tapered shim or re-weld your spring perches to correct it.

 

Ok thanks for the info guys, would I be better off with a lift kit than doing this? Stosh where do I get the shims and zero rate blocks if I need them?

 

Google search.

Even if you buy a "lift kit" for the rear (either blocks or springs), you may have to shim it to get the pinion angle back within spec.

 

While you can buy a kit from SKY MFG to do the rear shackle flip, you can also use the front leaf spring hangers from the rear leaves off any F-series pick-up. If you think about how the rear leaves are mounted to the frame, the front hanger has the spring eye below the bracket, while the rear hanger mounts the leaves above it. By swapping the stock rear hanger (next to the bumper) with one from the front side of the rear leaves you will gain about 4" lift. This also increases the 'flex' or range of movement of the rear springs somewhat. On my 84 Bronco, this set-up move my rear Sterling 10.25" axle about 1.5" forward of the centerline in the rear wheelwell. To re-center the axle, you have two options. First is to re-locate the front hanger for the rear leaves about 2" to the rear. This will affect the shackle angle on the rear mount. In my case, it basically flattened out the shackle in back and limited most of the flex. The second solution and the one i used is to get a block with an offset hole for the leaf spring center bolt. While the block is centered on top of the axle with a bottom stud that fits inside the spring pad, the top hole is offset about 1".I did use a "zero rate" 1" block which has no taper to it, and the rear pinion angle is good. you may need to use a tapered shim to correct the pinion angle. I'll se if I can post a pic, JSM84

Here's a link to my superford.org album with 8 pics:

http://www.supermotors.net/vehicles/...y/1133/57754-4